We analyzed three years of federal fines at nine large agencies, totaling more than a billion dollars. What stood out in our limited review is how rarely corporate fines are earmarked for consumers or the agency that investigated.

For example, when the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that Gree Electric Appliances would pay a $15 million fine for making defective dehumidifiers, that money went “straight to the U.S. Treasury for general use,” the CPSC said.

When Fiat-Chrysler reached an agreement with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over its response to recalls and agreed to pay a $105 million civil penalty, that money went to "the U.S. Treasury for general use,” NHTSA said.

And, a $100 million Federal Communications Commission fine that AT&T faces for claims it misled customers about its unlimited data plan is destined for “the U.S. Treasury for general use,” the FCC said.

Over and over, U.S. government agencies told us federal law requires them to send fines into a general pool that Congress spends as it sees fit.

“I think it’s a travesty,” said Rosemary Shahan, who runs the Center for Automotive Reliability and Safety. “That’s money that could go to prevention and compensation for victims.”

The CFPB recently fined Wells Fargo $100 million for opening bogus accounts without customers' consent. But that money did not go to Congress. The full amount went to a fund that is specifically designated for financial education and victim compensation.

It's called the CFPB Civil Penalty Fund, and it has grown rapidly over the past three years. The balance of the consumers-focused fund is now $305 million.

When that embattled, Texas-based energy company imploded in 2001 thousands of people lost billions. There was basically nothing left of Enron.

The CFPB said its nine-figure fund is designed to bail out victims of the next Enron-style collapse. Essentially, today’s fines from a company that is still solvent — and able to separately pay restitution — might help compensate the future victims of another firm that goes belly-up.